China is expected to begin building its third military base outside its frontiers over the next few years. The Pentagon indicated this military base, which will be China's largest thus far, will be established in neighboring Pakistan.
The base will be occupied by infantry and armor from the People's Liberation Army Ground Force (PLAGF). It will likely be located in the area of North Kashmir and Ladakh Pakistan ceded to China by Pakistan as part of the Sino-Pakistan Agreement of 1963.
Any PLAGF base here, however, will certainly draw a response from the Indian Army, which is already engaged in hostilities against the Pakistan Army in Jammu and Kashmir. India does not recognize the Sino-Pakistan Agreement of 1963 since it claims sovereignty over part of the territory now occupied by China.
China's first military base, a naval station, is operational in Djibouti in the Horn of Africa. A second base will rise in war-torn Afghanistan to curb the inflow of Islamic militants into China's Muslim-majority province of Xinjiang. Pakistan is China's closest military ally on the Asian continent and the top recipient of its foreign direct investments and aid.
China, however, continues to send out mixed signals about the military nature of its base in Afghanistan. Independent media reports claim that China's Ministry of National Defense as saying the base will be manned by Chinese troops supporting Afghanistan's defense and counterterrorism efforts.
Afghanistan's ambassador to China, however, refuted claims China will have boots on the ground at this base to be located at the Wakhan Corridor in Afghanistan's northern Badakhshan region.
Afghan Ambassador Janan Mosazai said on Wednesday that no Chinese soldiers will garrison the counter-terrorism base, which will be built with the assistance of China. Mosazai affirmed there will be no Chinese personnel under any circumstances.
Mosazai said China will provide assistance to Afghanistan so the latter can deploy a mountain brigade in the north of Afghanistan to enhance its counter-terrorism operations in the region.
He was reacting to press reports from China indicating the PLAGF will likely deploy hundreds of military personnel to the Wakhan Corridor in Badakhshan after China completes building the base. The Wakhan Corridor, a traditional invasion route into China, is a narrow strip of inhospitable and barely accessible terrain. It extends some 350 km from Badakhshan into China's Muslim region of Xinjiang.
Military sources in Afghanistan quoted by media said China's Afghan base will be built close to Xinjiang because Beijing views this province as the primary source of what it calls the "Three Forces" -- separatism, terrorism, and extremism. China blames these forces for a relentless space of violent attacks in Xinjiang over the past years. Much of Xinjiang's population consist of Chinese-Muslim Uyghurs.
